Absolutely addicting. Truly great game with a very different feel between solo and co-op play. Can't wait to play again and again and .....

The general game play is pretty easy to understand after a play or two. The card interactions is where this game just shines, very rich and deep. If you like Lord of the rings, or you like great theme, or you want a challenge, get this game. Or just get this game and you will learn to like it.

I love Lord of the Rings and I love Magic. Combining two things I love equals great things. This being a co-op game makes things even better as you and your partner try to complete the quests at hand with your heroes. Only downside is, you almost HAVE to buy another core set to get the full enjoyment out of this.

[Initial comments, June 2011, based on core set solo plays only]:I'm in two minds about this game - on the one hand I love anything to do with LotR, and this game does the setting justice in the art, presentation, and the concept of the game itself, and I've become slightly obsessed with it, playing it more times in a month than any game before (with the exception of Magic the Gathering). So I'd like to rate it a 9 or 10 just on the basis of how often I want to play it.

BUT... it can also be infuriating and it's too easy for fun to turn to frustration in the middle of a game when a nicely balanced, tense situation suddenly goes disastrously wrong due to a series of bad card draws, and sometimes it seems no amount of clever play or planning can help (at least for now, until deck-building options increase). But the frustration soon wears off and I want to try it again the very next day.

So I think it's probably a great game, but for now I'm reserving judgment on just how great, until the adventure packs start rolling and I can see how well the deck-building elements and diversity of quests work out.

[Edit Sept 2011]:After buying a 2nd core set and the first three adventure packs, I'm liking the way this game is going. The variety of quests and the different approaches you need to tackle them is great and keeps the game fresh, even when one quest gets frustrating. I don't really understand the complaints about it requiring deck-building, or those who want to use the same deck for every quest - isn't the variety and the scope for experimentation the whole point of CCGs/LCGs?

My attempts at deck-building haven't been terribly successful so far, but I'm getting a glimpse of how the increased card pool and flexibility of deck construction can help to mitigate some of the initial grievances I had with the game's unpredictability.

Rating up from 8 to 9 - it might go up even further, especially if I ever manage to play it as a 2+ player game.

[Edit May 2013]:OK, after 2 years I'm still thoroughly addicted - the expansions are really keeping it interesting and my deck-building has improved so I'm getting a reasonable success rate. My first game to break the 100-play barrier and I can't see myself getting bored with it for a long time so I have to upgrade this to my first 10 rating.

This game has been a big hit with us. I usually play with my boys (ages 10 and 13) actually. I like the game for several reasons, the game play, the lack of downtime, the art, and the play time. The game play is engaging and requires constant attention of all players all the time. Many moving pieces have to be accounted for when planning out your characters’ actions, such as exploring, keeping threat low, defending, attacking, and controlling the encounter deck. You have to balance all these needs when deciding what to allocate your character’s limited actions to. That requires a lot of teamwork. The different spheres of influence have different feels and each can really contribute to adventure. There is not much in the way of down time. Further, the games take between 45-90 minutes (averaging about an hour), which is great for us.

The deck building aspect is fun. It is enjoyable to try and figure out the best deck to play for the different demands in each scenario. It is also fun trying to find good combinations of cards, both in your own deck and with other players’ decks.

FFG did a fantastic job with the art, capturing the Tolkien feel. I so much prefer this sort of classic fantasy art to what is found in WoW, Warhammer, Manga, or anything like that. My boys love the game, and one of them is constantly asking me to play.

I like the living card game model quite a bit. I like getting new cards and scenarios regularly to keep the game fresh. I also like that each expansion includes a complete set of fixed play cards. There is no randomness. I have no interest in the ccg model.

8/4/2013 - RJ and I played Passage Through Mirkwood. He played Tactics with Beorn, Legolas and Thalin. I played Leadership with Theodred, Gloin, and Balin. We won in turn 3. Our final combined threat was 32+36=68. No heroes fell. Our combined damage on heroes was 14. We had 5 VP's, for a score of 77. I said "If we were maximizing VP's, we shouldn't have had Beorn sentinel defend attacks in our last round, we should have let some allies die (chomp blocking)." My son said, "We should get some more allies in play next time we play."

8/10/2013 - Charlie was racing Matchbox cars, Mom was designing jewelry, James was down for a nap. What time is it? Time for RJ and I to take on Journey Along the Anduin!

RJ (7 years old) is a lover of Tactics and a hater of taking on damage. I like the Leadership and Lore decks solo, but go Spirit when pairing up with Tactics. RJ chose Beorn (defender), Legolas (attacker) and Gimli (wildcard). I went with Dunhere (to pick off enemies in Stage 2) Eowyn (obviously) and Eleanor (manage "when revealed" + wildcard).

Opening hands were amazing - 2 Blades of Gondolin for RJ, 2 Unexpected Courages for me. I had two Northern Trackers, RJ had some good events (Goblin-Cleavers, Quick Strike, Stand Together) but he lacked Allies.

Here comes the Hill Troll!

Beorn took one for the team, ending up with 5 damage. However, we were able to load up damage in turn 1, and in turn 2 able to use Goblin-Cleaver and Quick Strike to finish him off.

Our plans came together nicely. Eowyn and Gimli were consistent questers, and we supplemented their Willpower with discards and some Allies (early Wandering Took, later Northern Trackers). Legolas was a monster! He attached both Gondolan Blades and I sent him an Unexpected Courage. He was generating 10 attack and 8 progress (with lethal attacks) each round. We blazed through Stage 1.

Early in Stage 2, we had 5 locations in the staging area. The Northern Trackers were the key to resolving this difficulty. In 2 turns, the 2 Trackers had the locations cleared. Eleanor had attached the second Unexpected Courage, and was protecting the Tactics team from "when revealed" effects frequently. Legolas, Eowyn and Gimli led the team past Stage 2 in short order. Off of the raft, and into the Ambush!

Dunhere came to the rescue with both Goblin Snipers, knocking them each off before they got off any damage. In fact, after a massive attack by RJ's heroes (and lone ally Bifur), a single Sniper in the staging area was all that stood between us and the path to the Golden Wood. Dunhere rode off to staging, and returned with glorious Victory!

1/27/15 - SNOW DAY! RJ and I, with Charlie's help and support, took on The Long Dark. RJ went with a mono sphere Tactics deck with Bard the Bowman, Elladan and Elrohir. I had a mix of cards maximizing card draw, shadow cancelation, and questing, with Eowyn, Theodred and Beravor.

We started with Massing in the Deep and Foul Air. We set the stage for very lucky locate quests - I drew a PASS on my first try with Foul Air. We played five turns - drawing mostly treacheries, two monsters that RJ engaged by never defeated, and two locations. Two Snowborne Scouts took out one of the locations before we even needed to travel there. One Locate test took five tries, but Gleowine, an event (I forget which one) and Beravor kept me card rich. Our questing was strong as we weren't really up against big threat in the staging area. In turn five, we sent everyone to the quest, and finished strong.

After many, many plays of this game, I still find it to be an excellent game with lots of options and tough decisions to be made. However, it has started to feel somewhat samey to me as my wife and I have done the same quests to death. I'll continue to play the game, and I'm sure the first expansion pack will re-energize my interest, but right now I'm feeling tired of the game, thus I've downgraded my rating from a 9.5 to an 8.5.

UPDATE (11-6-13): The comments above were written 5-30-11, back when the game was brand new and a delay in the release of the first expansion caused the game to feel a bit played out. I can say now, almost two and a half years later, that the game is and has been my second favorite game for quite some time. It's simply a fantastic game system that has been constantly evolving and breaking new ground with each expansion. There are so many expansions out now that I haven't even been able to play all of them, and the game has maintained a high level of quality with all of its releases that I've played. I can see myself playing the game for many more years to come.

This has turned out to be a fantastic co-op game. My wife enjoys it which is always a big plus for me.

Extremely challenging at first but you get better with repeated plays. The final quest in the core game is painfully difficult and agonizing (It's awesome!).

Deck building is necessary for having success beyond the first quest. The good news is if you don't like deck building just look on the site for some Deck ideas and your ready to go.

The game can be played solo but requires serious deck building to have any kind of success beyond the first quest. Balance seems off as well for solo. The game seems geared specifically for two players.

My favorite co-op to date. This game is going to hit the table often.

edit: having all the available expansions has boosted this up to a 10 for me. It's also now my wife's favorite co-op.

edit: I really LOVE the art in this game. It's incredibly good (most of it at least). My wife enjoys looking at all the cards. I wouldn't mind some of it in a larger size or as my desktop background.

Wow! Just wow! Everytime I play this game I find myself amazed by what you can do just with cards. A lot of great decisions while playing (and while building your deck), a great theme and consistent high quality artwork. Still exciting after many plays. Only downside is that it's not for everyone.

Upped Rating to 10! This new Rating is meant to include the expansions. Without expansions it would be lower. This is now my most played game. It gives you the C/LCG deckbuilding without the need of a competetive play environment. Just meet with your friend(s) once or twice a month and face the new challenge, improve the decks and face it again until you succeed. Pure genius! Add to that the satisfying solo play and you end with an almost perfect game.

Update: Still going strong (first Hobbit box). What's really good is that the game forces you to adapt and alter your decks or build new decks with new quests. And we even imposed some restrictions on ourselves regarding the Hobbit timeline. Looking forward to the next cycle.

Old comment (old rating 8):Played a PnP version of the final German edition (4 games, 3 2-player, 1 4-player). Only used the one sphere starter decks.

Rating is not final. Will have to test deckbuilding and multi-sphere decks first.

Everyone who likes Arkham, BSG, Death Angel etc. and knows a little bit of CCG/LCG mechanics and likes the Middle-Earth setting should at least try this when it is released.

UPDATE: Played some more games, but still with the starter decks. Quest 1 is really easy, but we got slaughtered by Quest 2. Still have to try deckbuilding. But has been fun so far.

UPDATE 2:I now regularly meet with a friend to play this. I bring all the cards (2 core sets + all expansions) and we will build decks or alter the decks from the previous session and try to tackle the new scenario or retry a scenario we had failed earlier. We only play once or twice a month and at this frequency my rating remains a solid 8 with upward tendency.

The really great thing about this game is that you can have CCG style deckbuilding without a functioning competetive game group that is required to enjoy most PvP CCGs/LCGs.

This popped up on my radar and I hesitated for a while. After FFG revealed the 3rd preview, I added it as a pre-order and began tracking its' progress. It quickly became my most anticipated game ever.

I love LotR.I love CCG's.I, by necessity, only buy solitaire-playable games at this point.

This game is AWESOME!

It captures the theme for me. Most every play could easily have been written as a story about Middle Earth.

After 26 plays, 25 of which are solo, I do not think this plays like a puzzle. Nor does it feel like the game is playing me. A good part of that has to do with the theme. It also has to do with reflecting on poor choices I made that let the situation get out of hand.

Is there imbalance between the decks? Yes. Legolas and the Bad-Ax boys are terrible on their own. They kick backsides and take names when used with another deck.

Is there luck involved? Yes. It's a card game. Luck happens.

Does it feel like unlucky situations can be overcome? Yes. And, even when things go terribly wrong, I can't help but feel the evil forces of Sauron winning this battle. Gotta get a new group of heroes and create some threat of my own.

Can you play with 4 people with 1 set? Yes. I played one game with 3, using a piece of paper to keep track of my threat. What fun! In fact, it appears to scale really well. I thought we'd rock on the Mirkwood quest, and it actually got tricky and required some careful cooperation to win. We all had a blast.

Are there any broken cards? No. I consider myself to be a decent CCG analyst. Having played through the first two quests, I have found the cards to be well balanced. There is one broken situation that could possibly happen (2 crows left in the encounter deck during the quest phase with Thalin participating in the quest), but good luck trying!

At first I was perturbed because FFG did not include 3 of each card in the box. However, after reading others' comments on the geek and more consideration, I have decided that I cannot fault them. The game stands on its' own. The buyer is not compelled to dive into the expensive and time consuming world of customizing decks. And if you do? Just buy a 2nd set! If any of the CCG's you love had done this, you would have been ecstatic!

Why this is a 10+ I do want to play this most all of the time.+ I love the theme and its' implementation+ I can play it by myself, but it also works great with 3+ I love having the ability to manage my own luck in a game+ gush, gush, gush - BLECH!

I've played this game hundreds of times solo and it is fantastic. The theme shines through, you can create many different decks to try and defeat many different scenarios. A ton of variety. My kids are now at the right age for me to play co-operatively. The first few games have been even more enjoyable: exploring new card combinations that only make sense with multiple players. The adventure packs have mostly been great, offering new and interesting twists that keep this game fresh. Love it!

One of the best card games I've played. I love that it is the Tolkien theme and is completely playable solitaire. The Fantasy Flight Game's (FFG) Living Card Game (LCG) system will keep me coming back.

First off, there is significant strategy even before you start playing, in determining the construction of your deck and the heroes to use with it. Which sphere(s) of influence will work best with this scenario? What did I do wrong last time with my deck that I can improve this time? What will work best with the heroes I've chosen?

It's incredibly fun just sitting back and deciding how to assemble the optimal deck, and we haven't even involved actual game play yet. In fact, what makes this game so interesting is there are pretty much two game "modes" to it.... the first is the deck-building mode, the second is the game mode. Both are very fun in their own ways.

Now for the actual gameplay.... for a card-based co-op, there is a LOT to this game, both in depth and variety. Multiple scenarios, lots of difficult decisions, and lots of unexpected wrinkles thrown at the player. Do I exhaust this character to travel and maintain the threat level, or do I hang back this turn and try to finally vanquish this spider gnawing on us, delaying the journey and raising the threat? Should I sacrifice an ally to keep my heroes healthy? Should I spend my resources on this weapon here, or this other ally here, or save up for Gandalf next turn because I REALLY need to lower my threat level....

This has to be my best purchase of the year, and I know this game will get LOTS of play time.

I've played this solo and with another player and this is by far the best cooperative game I've ever played. Lots of tough decisions, but with a much simpler ruleset than many other constructible card games.

This is definitely about deck building, because the mono sphere starter decks are not up to the task of defeating the first scenario without a bit of luck. The only deck to do so is the leadership deck.

I've put together a leadership/spirit deck with no luck so far out of 7 attempts. although I did lose through greed of getting a good score on my last attempt when I was practically home and dry.

The other deck a tactics/lore deck I've won through the first scenario twice and have yet to be defeated. Ive not tried it out on the second scenario yet,

I've only tried the second scenario once so far and with the mono sphere leadership deck. I was handed my butt in about 6 turns.

I'm too frightened of the third scenario to even think of attempting it. Besides I want to keep something back for later when I've 'mastered' the first two. lol

Update: I've now beaten the first quest with all mono sphere decks with the exception of the lore deck. I'll keep trying though. I've yet to put together a tri-sphere deck. Plenty of re playability with all the possibilities.

Only played a couple of games now - one solo and one 2 player. The game is very hard to beat but I love how tense it is, the synergies and the beautiful card art. This seems like it's going to be a winner. People complain that there's only 3 scenarios in the base set but I see lots of replay ability in the different decks and then trying to lower your score each time is a draw too. Gonna try to update my rating every so often. Edit- 4/28/11 - played four three player games now and I am loving this game. Great fun to have all four spheres in play and we are starting to customize our decks now. Playing the same scenario again and again is not taking away from the replay ability of the game due to the variance of cards drawn from encounter deck and into players hands. Fabulous game!

This game just keeps getting better and better. The best ideas for expansions yet for an LCG ... each with its own scenario/adventure/quest; played solo or with two just a deeply immersive game with many levels of strategy: deckbuilding, playing one's deck, cooperating with another. Outstanding level of enjoyment!

EDIT-After more solo and 2 player games, this game has only gotten better. I was especally surprised by the depth of possible combinations and the interactions with multiple playings, would like to have more regular expansion releases. SECOND EDIT--I have played through all the quests in the Return To Mirkwood Cycle and the game has not gotten stale or overpowered. The old cards from the core set are still heavily used, and evey new expansion injects fresh ideas and combinations into the system. To me the game is at the right balance--I usually win about 50% of the time with the right decks. How many games out there are just as fun solo as multi-player? This is only the second game I have ever rated a 10.

Some CCGs just become different as they get older. You're using different cards, different strategies, different keywords. LotR just keeps getting BETTER. The more you put into it, the more you get out of it.

I'm quite surprised that it clicked with me that good. Very beautiful artwork on the cards, the story of geting through Mirkwood (1st scenario basicly) spoke to me and the mechanics were nice. The diffrent "factions" worked and had distinct flavor to them. Gotta get some additional packs so it would be possible to make some multi-decks and have some choice while doing it. Basegame has just enough cards to make them, but not really have a choice about cards to put it them. Good game.Update. The more quests I've seen and played the more I love this game. First saga expansions were awsome, really gave sense of adventure and searching for something. Game seems to become more and more mature with each new cycle. While Mirkwood was ok and fun, Khazad-dum and Dwarrowdelf have been very-very good. And as I said - Hobbit saga block is just plain awsome fun.

Really great coop game if you like deckbuilding games. The game mechanics are quite sophisticated but the rules are easy to get for an experienced player. Very atmospheric settings and an adventurelike character of gameplay. Also quite a challenge in solo play. Recommended!

200+ plays. What I thought was a clean set of rules (on the reading) turns into an FAQ mess through all the card interactions, however once you get past that and print off some of the excellent aids to help ... there's good decisions to make on what cards to invest in and when. Then it's choosing which units will travel through your quest (but which are then unable to defend against baddies), which do you leave on guard against potential upcoming baddies (the turn of a deck), and which to then leave available to whack the baddies back in return. All of which disguises the fact that your result will probably reflect the luck of the cards, but at least you'll have enjoyed the struggle to do the best you can with what you get. This is good fun with another gamer (definitely not a spouse game) who's into the theme and the CCG genre (ie comfortable with card effects), otherwise it's going to be tough to get to the table. The scenarios always have tight spots where you think all might be lost, and it can be an amazed satisfaction afterwards if/as you get through it. The more you play, the more important it is to keep cards as specific answers to specific upcoming events rather than play them out just because they're good now and you have the resources available to spend. Which also means knowing and tracking what's left to be dealt with in the encounter deck. There's a bunch of scenario / deck combos to work through before you need to invest more. A keeper if you have someone to play it with.

After some plays: not a bad game at all. A lot of hard strategic choices. I think the strategy maintains the stability of a board game without interference from the collectible aspect of the game. This is a constant development struggle game. Both sides are competing in the development, and the card mechanics offer deep strategies. I dislike the scoring rule that forces you to an early victory though. Apart from that, excellent.

It was my life, like all lives, mysterious and irrevocable and sacred. So very close, so very present, so very belonging to me. How wild it was to let it be.

10

Jan 2014

This game has been a revelation to me in that I never was a M:tG fan and had a predisposition against any sort of a CCG, LCG, or pre-play deck building (ugh, work) -- yet after two years of playing, I love this game and rate it a 10. I never suspected that I’d fall for the game the way I have to point of enjoying the pre-play deck building and buying so many expansions, but I do and I have.

The brilliance of the game is how it succeeds in terms of richness of gameplay, cooperative interaction, and theme. The game is simply the best implementation, IMO, of what a gamer’s game, strategic coop should be. Building a deck that hums with card synergies engrosses me every play, and the way the game renders specific situations – be it going down the Anduin in a boat or getting shot at by guards behind a gate – is the definition of thematic to me. The way the victory conditions differ greatly from scenario to scenario keeps the experience fresh in ways that other games wish they could. And unlike other cooperative games where players are co-contributing more than co-operating, LOTR:TCG gives players plenty of options for playing cards to assist one another at every phase of the game while still leaving room for autonomy and individual creativity. I have a monthly cooperative game group and we're all-in on LOTR:TCG.

Dripping with a fab Theme, excellent art, and expansions - what more could a geek want?I prefer to play it with 2P and would not normally play 1P, but 1P is a great way to learn the rules and the cards and is surprisingly appealing.

Why does it deserve a 10? Lets recap:a) My wife loves itb) It brings out the sentimental feeling of putting a deck together and trying it out. Just like I did when I was younger and played a lot of MtGc) My wife loves it (at one time she would not let me go to sleep until we tried to beat one adventure)d) It is the best Co-Op game out there, IMHOe) And the MOST important point of all, MY WIFE LOVES IT

Expansions:All of Mirkwood cycleAll of Dwarrowdelf cycle Heirs of NúmenorOn the DoorstepUnder the Hill